Chapter Text
The ancient yet opulent brick buildings surrounded Keiji Akaashi in an intimidating yet fascinating fashion. Huge walls of creeping ivy climbed their way up each one, giving a whole new meaning to Ivy League. Keiji had to lean back in order to get a proper look at each building from bottom to top, which made him nearly topple over backwards. With a clumsy stumble, he managed to right himself and not make a complete fool of himself on his first day on campus.
Musubi University was an exceptionally old and prestigious playground for the highborn, purebred aristocratic heirs of all species. All in all, the university represented everything that Keiji wasn’t: wealthy, high-class, and pretentious. Even as he passed by several students on the walkway, he felt undeniably out of place. While the predators all sported name brand clothing, expensive bags, and high-quality laptops, he was meandering around in beat-up sneakers, second-hand jeans, and his old, plain t-shirt. Keiji never truly minded how he looked, but it was difficult to simply ignore the way he clearly didn’t belong. Everything about him felt like a flashing neon sign with big, bold letters: Low Class Rabbit. He physically shook his head, as if it’d shake the stupid thoughts from his brain and out his long, floppy rabbit ears. Keiji Akaashi didn’t belong and that was something he was proud of. He wasn’t a big, bad Alpha or a powerful carnivore. He was a big, bad Omega and a powerful rabbit.
Keiji had bigger worries to concentrate on. Namely, just how lost he had become. All of the university buildings seemed to match each other with red brick and stone columns. Each had a big, gold nameplate over the doors as if it’d help him find his way. Ikkei Language Center. Ittetsu Education Building. Yasufumi Center for Architecture. He pulled up a map on his phone and tried to route himself back on track. When he realized he was on the opposite side of campus, he held back a groan and spun around to walk in the opposite direction. Looking at the bright side, the long walk helped him get a little more familiar with the campus itself. All of the educational buildings that held classes and lectures were on the far West side of campus while the dining halls and dorms were on the East. In the middle was a pavilion with the gym, the library and a huge, paved area for students to gather with benches and fountains. All around them were perfectly manicured lawns, opulent street lights and gardens.
His massive backpack and the duffle over his shoulder were starting to weigh down on him. Keiji had to silently thank the overcast weather, shading him from the sun’s relentless heat. Without the cloud coverage, he was positive he would have sweat through his clothes. Most new students were allowed to move into the dorms a little early to get used to the campus layout, but that also meant trudging his entire life around in the high mid-August temperatures. Keiji had to wonder how students with tons of luggage managed. He could fit all of his possessions into one huge duffle bag and a backpack, making it a little easier albeit heavier. All of his textbooks were in a grocery sack slung over his arm and it threatened to burst with any misstep. Surely, he’d be able to skip a few days at the gym after such a workout.
“Fukurodani Hall…” Keiji muttered to himself and checked his map again. While there were four different dorm halls on campus, first year students didn’t get to pick and choose where they ended up. It was a hot topic of debate when he announced his choice university to his parents.
“Do you have a death wish?” Keiji’s mother scolded, slapping down the acceptance letter from Musubi University. He knew there were several reasons why she’d object and he had solutions to… most of them. It was expensive, but he’d managed to secure several scholarships for a full-ride. It was farther away from home, but he’d prepared a very convincing compromise where he’d call every night and visit every weekend via a three-hour train ride. But one issue that he hadn’t devised a plan for was the fact that Musubi was a co-ed university. Co-ed, as in carnivores and herbivores all attended. Predators and prey. Alphas, Betas, and Omegas.
“It isn’t the old, wild days anymore,” Keiji reminded her. Even though he was arguing, his voice was soft and docile. Keiji hated that about himself. Even if he wanted to yell, he couldn’t. It wasn’t in his nature. It wasn’t in their nature.
The Akaashi family were all lop rabbit hybrids. They all had short and slight statures with soft dark hair and blue eyes. More noticeably were their fluffy black tails and floppy rabbit ears. Keiji’s were black to match his hair. They fell down to his chin, oftentimes swaying along with his head movements. When he was truly excited or interested, they’d perk right up.
“It may not be, but that doesn’t make carnivores any more respectable,” his mother huffed. “And this university doesn’t even have segmented dorm rooms! Keiji, you could get paired up in a room with a carnivore! A fox or a bear or, heavens forbid, a wolf. Don’t even get me started on Alphas. That university will be crawling with Alphas.”
“I thought you’d be happy. Musubi University is one of the most prestigious schools in the country,” Keiji simply said, trying not to get too riled up by her overbearing comments. “And I managed to get a full-ride.”
“You could get a full-ride at any school you’d apply to. Including herbivore-only schools. You know, the schools from that list I sent you. With proper dorm arrangements. You could have attended any one and they’re just as nice as Musubi.”
Keiji stood from the table and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.“This is the school of my choice. I worked hard to get in, got accepted, and that’s where I’m going to go.”
Finally, this father spoke up to defend him. “Keiji is an adult. He can go where he wants.”
With that, his mother settled down a little. His father’s word was always final in their home. Keiji sat back down at the dinner table too.
After a few beats of silence, she spoke up again. “You’ll call. Every night.”
“Every night,” Keiji agreed.
“And you’ll visit often.”
“As often as I can, yes. The train ride is only three hours.”
“You’ll take scent blockers, birth control, and you’ll bring pepper spray with you. And a taser.”
“Okay, fine.”
“And if you get a carnivore or even an Alpha roommate, you’ll need to ask for a swap.”
“I can’t do that, Mom. That’s discrimination.”
“He’s right,” Keiji’s father chimed in.
“Fine. I’ll need to meet them, then. If they’re suspicious in any kind of way, we’ll pull you out and you can go anywhere else.”
“Fine.”
With the agreement in place, Keiji left the table to hide in his bedroom. Rather than risking another argument with his mother, he flopped onto this bed and pulled up the university’s website again. He’d done plenty of research but found himself revisiting the site every week.
Musubi really had everything covered for all species. There were private rooms for those that went into heats and ruts during mating seasons. Their cafeteria had a lengthy menu with all diets in mind. Clubs, organizations, fraternities, sororities, and even the dorms were all co-ed. In Keiji’s opinion, it was the most sensible rule. The real world didn’t offer invisible walls to shield prey from predators, Alphas from Omegas. After schooling, everyone would have to go out and learn how to live amongst each other. It was better to start sooner than later.
Keiji went to an all-herbivore elementary, middle, and high school, per his mother’s insistence. His small farming community was occupied by only rabbits, deer, and goats. Really, Keiji had never met a carnivore before. In his mind, they were just like him. The only difference would be their ears, tails, claws, fangs, and general behavior. He figured his mother was mostly worried about the claws, fangs, and behavior. No… if it were up to her, he’d stay at home and take over the family farm. Luckily, he had several siblings to fill that role. No, Keiji was going to get the hell out of his small hometown and move on to better things. Move on to good things, away from the bad.
Keiji was panting for breath by the time he’d walked the entire stretch across campus, finally locating the dorms. All four buildings looked exactly the same, so he had to pay extra attention to make sure he’d found the right one: Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani, and Inarizaki. He entered through the large wooden doors and cast a gaze over the ground floor. The décor fit the university’s colors: gold, black, and white. Old, cream wallpaper paired with short dark carpet and gold accents. Several dark wood tables and chairs were scattered around, along with some white couches. A huge fireplace took up one wall while a giant bulletin board took up another. He glanced over the myriad of flyers pinned on it. The other walls were adorned with painted canvases of the campus, its founders, and some abstract pieces. It all looked so vintage and opulent, somewhere Keiji definitely didn’t belong. To his surprise, there were no students milling about yet. He figured he’d beaten the crowd.
After checking his phone for the third time to make sure he knew where he was going, he hopped into the elevator and rode it up to the fourth floor. After exiting into a smaller lounge area, Keiji trekked down the impossibly long hallways until reaching Room 450.
Keiji took a breath and flung open the door to see an empty room. He sighed in a bit of relief. Even though he was a full-grown adult, he still struggled with the unknown. Anxiety was threaded into his genetic material, he was certain. His day was so full of new, his internal battery was draining at an accelerated rate. Keiji surveyed the room, figuring out his next move. It wasn’t as small as he’d expected. Everything was split evenly into two sides. Each side came complete with a bed, desk, and dresser. Each bed was lofted, with the desk nestled right underneath. Between the two was a little window with a really pretty view of the huge grassy area in the middle of the campus. Keiji could see tons of students trotting down the sidewalks across the perfectly mowed lawn. The vintage, cream wallpaper carried into the room and the floor was made up of dark wood planks. Overall, it looked really cozy and smelled relatively sterile. His nose twitched, sending the lemon cleaning products.
Keiji chose the right side because it was farther from the door and opened up his bags. After tucking away his folded clothes into the dresser, he stacked his textbooks onto his desk and plugged in his old laptop. He stuck with the university-supplied bedding and found ample places to store various knick-knacks and toiletries on his side of the room.
“Hey, hey, hey, there it is!” a booming voice called from the hall. The door swung open and the most jovial voice rang out to fill the space. “Found you!”
Keiji stared with wide eyes at the hulking man standing at the door. His huge frame took up most of the archway, dressed up in baggy sweats, brand-name high-top sneakers and a plain white t-shirt that clung to his skin. Everything about him was so striking. His gelled-up hair was dark at the roots but silvery white at the tips, matching his ears. Wolfish ears. A huge grin was plastered across his face featuring sharp canines. Wolfish teeth. A big, fluffy tail whipped around behind him excitedly, matching his hair color as well with dark fur at the base and silver up top. Wolfish tail.
Most striking of all, though, were his bright, golden eyes. They almost seemed to glitter as he looked Keiji up and down, assessing him. Eyes of a predator. He sniffed at the air as a wash of warm cinnamon sugar barreled into Keiji like a tidal wave. It left him blinking a few times, as if he didn’t believe his own eyes. The wolf just stood there gawking at Keiji, eyes darting from feature to feature, specifically his ears. “Found you…” he repeated, much softer as if he were in awe himself.
The world felt like it had stopped for a moment. Several things were stunningly obvious. His new roommate stood in the doorway, broad and tall. The dominant scent hovering around him was most definitely the scent of an Alpha. And those sharp teeth poking out from under his top lip were those of a carnivore. A carnivore who was staring very intently at him, waiting for him to speak.
“Hi,” Keiji returned slowly, unsure. His heart started to pound and Keiji wasn’t sure if it was because his roommate was a predator, a carnivore, an Alpha, or drop-dead gorgeous. The census was still out.
“You must be my roommate! Sorry, I totally didn’t expect…”
“A rabbit?” Keiji finished for him. It looked like he’d never seen a rabbit before. The wolf just stood there gawking.
“Um… Uh… yeah!” He sounded like he was lying, but Keiji couldn’t know for sure. Keiji had to wonder what his new roommate did expect. Probably another predator, he figured. Not a slightly shaking bunny. His roommate shook himself out of his stupor and stuck out his hand. “I’m Koutarou Bokuto.”
Keiji took a few steps forward to take his hand. It was hard to ignore his claws. Rather than normal, blunt fingernails like Keiji’s, Bokuto’s were black and sharp. Bokuto seemed aware of it and made sure to move his hand slowly and carefully around Keiji’s. His touch was warm. “Keiji Akaashi.”
“Is it okay if I call you Akaashi? I’m not great at formalities.”
“As long as I can call you Bokuto, then.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.”
Keiji dropped Bokuto’s hand and went back to his desk, plopping down in the chair to study his class schedule. As a first-year, most of his classes were fairly general. He reviewed the syllabus for each class and memorized where they were on the map. While he reviewed, Bokuto made a few trips up and down the elevator to bring in his things. While he didn’t necessarily look stuffy or pretentious at first glance. He looked… pretty. Why’d he have to look so pretty? Keiji internally groaned at himself.
Despite not looking like a rich snob, it was obvious that Bokuto’s family had money. They were likely purebreds. The Louis Vuitton luggage said it all. And the suitcases just kept coming until Bokuto brought up the last one and crashed into his desk chair panting. “You know, I always thought I was pretty fit. But no matter how strong I get, hauling around suitcases always takes it out of me,” he joked.
“It looks like you packed for a family of twelve,” Keiji gestured toward all the cases.
“More like my mom packed for a family of twelve,” Bokuto laughed. “She basically packed everything for me and I just brought it here. My sisters helped too. Between the three of them, I don’t think I’ll even have to do laundry for the entire school year since they packed so many clothes.”’
At least there were two things in common: overbearing mothers and meddlesome siblings. Keiji looked back down at the papers littering his desk and started to tidy them up, giving Koutarou space to unpack.
Suddenly, a hot breath was puffing against his neck. Keiji’s entire body froze up stiffly and he dared to peek over his shoulder, seeing Bokuto’s face right next to his. Keiji’s heart started pounding loudly again. Predator. Carnivore. Alpha. Pretty. It seemed Bokuto had decided to peer over his shoulder at his class schedule. Bokuto rested one hand on the back of Keiji’s chair and the other on his desk. They weren’t touching… but they were close… Keiji could hear Bokuto’s slow breath, a tiny growl accompanying each exhale. He could hear the obvious way Bokuto sniffed at him. He could feel his roommate’s body heat radiating through his shirt. The proximity set his instincts on fire, but in opposing ways. One side of his brain shouted run. The other… wanted more. Keiji ignored both and braved a look at him.
Their eyes met and Bokuto’s widened. “Oh! Sorry!” He backed off immediately, nearly tripped but recovered and awkwardly laughed. “Sorry. I’m not used to herbivores…. or prey… or whatever you want to be called. My sisters warned me to keep my distance, but I’m really bad at that. I’ll get better, I promise.”
“You’re fine.” Keiji shrugged. Bokuto just startled him a little, that was all. The hammering in his chest was just a result of instinct, dumb instinct. His racing heart most definitely was not because of how attractive Bokuto was. Or the way his scent started to drift into Keiji’s nose… sweet cinnamon. He realized he needed to talk. Talk. Words. He sputtered out, “I’ve never met a carnivore before. So this is… new. You’re a wolf… right?”
“Right! A Northwestern wolf. You’ve never met a carnivore before? At all?”
“My hometown is really small. No predators there. Just prey.”
Bokuto was staring blankly again, as if his brain needed to fully process their situation. Keiji didn’t blame him. The situation was entirely new for the both of them. “So… I’m the first carnivore you’ve ever met? I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance if I do anything weird,” Bokuto finally said.
“Weird?”
“All species have their little quirks, right? Instincts? Mine run pretty strong so it can be hard to control.”
“Your instinct isn’t to eat me, is it?” Keiji asked flatly.
“What? Oh, no! Not in a million years! I’d never hurt you, I swear!” Bokuto held his arms up in the air, an open surrender.
Something about it was so funny that Keiji let out a chuckle. “Sure, okay. I won’t eat you either then.”
The joke had Bokuto laughing too. “Thank you, I was totally worried you would.”
A pinch of humor did wonders to change the mood. The awkward tense air lightened immensely. They were able to talk fairly casually after that.
“Wolves are really territorial of their space,” Bokuto explained as he put his clothes away in the dresser. “So if it’s cool, would you let me know if you’re inviting anyone else in here, especially if they’re predators or Alphas? Like friends… girlfriends…”
“Yeah. I’m not very… social. So that shouldn’t be a problem, actually,” Keiji moved from his desk to his bed. He scrolled on his phone and started adding his classes to his digital calendar. “And I don’t date girls, so that’s not a problem either.”
“Oh!” Bokuto stood rather rigidly. Did he have some sort of issue? He took a second and then relaxed again, shutting the first set of drawers and moving to the next. “I don’t date girls either, so that’s cool. Boyfriends, then. Just, um, let me know.”
Oh. Keiji didn’t realize he’d be in good company. Funnily enough, even though he was a meter away from a meat-eating predator, he felt a little more comfortable knowing they both preferred men. “Do you have a boyfriend, Bokuto?” he had to wonder. “An Omega?”
“No! No. I didn’t want to date anyone going into college. Long distance can be hard if you don’t go to the same school, y’know? And you aren’t… dating anyone either?”
“No. My last relationship wasn’t pleasant so I haven’t dated since then.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool. I’m happy to be out of it, y’know?”
“Yeah, I could imagine. But, um… yeah. Territorial. I know you belong here, so we won’t have an issue. I’ll get used to your scent.”
“It’s probably hard to sense. I’m on a shit-ton of scent blockers.”
“Yeah, it’s… it’s nice, though. What I can smell.”
“Thanks.”
“But strangers, uh… I don’t do well with strangers in my space. And, um… Every three months I’ll be gone for a week.”
“Me too,” Keiji added quickly. “Um… heat.”
“Rut.”
The very short conversation served its purpose and Keiji was a little relieved to get it out of the way. He wasn’t ashamed of being an Omega, but it had the possibility of making things awkward. The last thing he wanted was for Bokuto to think about him with flushed cheeks, presenting, and begging for cock in heat. That was way too embarrassing. Keiji figured he’d try and steer the conversation away from mating. “Rabbits have really sensitive noses, so I’ll apologize in advance if you catch me sniffing at stuff. It’s habit.”
“Wolves do too. Wait… do rabbits scent-mark and stuff?”
“Yeah, with their mates usually.”
“Oh, wolves will do it with pretty much everything they want to claim. Even if it's a backpack or something from a store. It’s like a weird impulse.”
“I can tell…” Keiji sniffed the air. Their entire room smelled like Bokuto, not just the space around them. His scent’s strength and radius was unlike anything Keiji had experienced before, and he assumed that was because he’d never met a predator before. The scent was overbearing, dominating everything else in its wake. But… it wasn’t unpleasant. There was a distinct spicy, cinnamon flavor to it that almost seemed to coat Keiji’s tongue in sweet nostalgia. It was almost like a spice cake, warm and comforting.
“Sorry,” Bokuto scrubbed at the back of his neck.
“No, it’s fine. It’s nice, really nice.”
Bokuto stared at him for a long moment, eyes a little wider than usual. His tail started to wag, whipping around behind him. “You think mine is nice?”
“Yeah, really nice. It’s like a bakery in here or something.”
“Oh…” Bokuto blinked several times and then went back to unpacking. He moved on to his desk where he stacked some textbooks and plugged in his laptop. His tail kept wagging, flicking papers around and Bokuto had to grumble and pick them up off the ground. There was no organization to it. Keiji’s inner neat freak was threatening to poke its head out and help. He didn’t, though.
Keiji kept watching from the corner of his eye. Bokuto brought all his own bedding. Fancy white sheets and puffy pillows. His comforter had little cartoon owls on them. He even unpacked a stuffed owl, one that was big enough to cuddle with. Bokuto caught him staring and laughed a little, embarrassed. “I’ve had this since I was little. My, um… My mom must have packed it.”
“No, it’s cute. Owls are my favorite.”
“Mine too. His name is Spike.”
Keiji smiled to himself. It seemed like he made an actual friend, and a carnivore no less. He was tempted to text his mother about it, wanting to prove her wrong, but hesitated. She did mention she’d want to meet him… eventually. Keiji was going to stave that off for as long as possible.
“Akaashi, some of my friends were going to go out tonight. You know, to celebrate moving in and the beginning of our first year. Did you want to come along?”
Keiji’s response was automatic. He didn’t even have to think. “No, it’s fine. I’m good here.”
“You sure?” Bokuto pressed. He held up his phone, ready to text them back. “Neither of them have met a rabbit before and are super interested. They’re cool, I swear.”
He hesitated in his response. Keiji never accepted invitations to social functions. He knew he wasn’t good with people, so he never tried to become popular or some kind of socialite. But… he also didn’t want to let Bokuto down.
Bokuto seemed to sense his worries and offered a smile. “I’ll be there the whole time. And if you aren’t having fun, we could come back here and play some video games or somethin’.”
No one had ever offered to accommodate to him like that before. It made it really difficult to refuse. Why’d Bokuto have to be so nice? So, Keiji sighed and nodded. “Sure, okay.”
“We’re going to this famous bar just outside campus. My sisters said it was really popular with students here. I’ve got a fake, so drinks are on me tonight! Unless that’s something you aren’t into. You can get whatever, it’ll still be on me!” Bokuto sounded especially excited, so Keiji pushed down his nerves and when the time came, he followed Bokuto out to the front of the dorms to meet his friends. Two men were waiting for them right outside.
“Tetsuro Kuroo and Kenma Kozume,” Bokuto gestured to his friends as if he were showing off prizes at a gameshow. “Guys, this is Keiji Akaashi. My roommate.” He turned to Keiji with a cheesy grin, tail whipping around behind him. “I’ve known these dumb cats since high school.”
“Oh, the rabbit! I thought you were lying to us, Bo.” Tetsuro Kuroo’s eyes lit up. His rounded black ears twitched in his wild black hair. It looked like a severe case of bedhead mixed in with a few globs of hair gel. Or like he’d just gotten done mating with a ravenous beast. His tail was long and curled around his own leg, black with silky fur. If Keiji had to guess, Kuroo was a panther-hybrid of some kind. “Nice to meet you!” He stuck out his hand to shake Keiji's. Keiji was mindful of Kuroo’s black claws. The handshake didn’t last long, luckily, and Keiji didn’t get scratched on accident.
“Yeah, nice to meet you,” a smaller, softer voice agreed. Kenma Kozume. His hair was obviously dyed a straw-blond as his dark roots were coming in. His brown triangular ears matched his roots. Just like Kuroo, his brown tail was securely wrapped around his leg as well. While Kuroo looked like a panther-hybrid, Kozume looked more like a domestic cat-hybrid. Brown cats, he knew, were really rare. Keiji idly had to wonder why Kozume dyed his hair.
“Nice to meet you both too,” Keiji returned.
“We’ve never met a rabbit before,” Kuroo supplied with a smile. “So if we do somethin’ offensive, let us know.”
“Sure…” Keiji was honestly surprised. The carnivores were surprisingly accommodating. And surprisingly tall. He was definitely the shortest of the bunch, which felt odd. At home, he’d always been the tallest one around.
“Yeah, if Tetsu does somethin’ weird, tell me. I’ll beat some sense into him. Kenma’s great, though. He’ll keep Tetsu in line too,” Bokuto gave Keiji’s shoulder a little nudge.
“Why do you have to make me out to be the troublemaker? You’re the one he should watch out for!”
“Me? I’d never do anything weird!”
“Bo, you do weird things all the time,” Kozume sighed.
“Kenma! You traitor!” Bokuto whined.
The exchange made Keiji laugh, which had Bokuto beaming and his tail wagging even more. Kuroo wore a teasing smirk and Kozume’s neutral expression never seemed to change. The four of them took off toward the bar, crossing through campus and out the huge metal archway with the university’s name etched into the top.
Just outside of campus was a strip of restaurants, cafes, bars, and book shops. All of the buildings held a similar Victorian architecture with steeply pitched roofs, ornate gables, and bay windows. Something about the old structures was charming, especially with the huge trees and shrubs scattered on either side of the street. While the entire street looked old and storied, all of the shops were filled with modern commodities. Keiji took note of them as they walked down the pavement. They passed the huge bookstore, pizza shop, café, bakery, deli, liquor store… all of the basics for college life.
They all crossed the street to a dive bar, Connect. The bar was already packed with Musubi students, all of them milled about. The entire place smelled of mammals, beer and popcorn and a dull roar of conversation filled the air. Booths with red leather seats lined the walls. A huge bar took up the far side of the room with shelves of liquor bottles lined up behind it. A few pinball tables were stationed in the corner alongside an old-fashioned jukebox. One-dollar bills with names written on them were plastered over the ceiling. Keiji had to wonder how they managed to get them to stick up there.
Their little group managed to land a high-top table in the corner of the room with four chairs, far away from the crowd. Bokuto took a pitstop at the bar and returned with a pitcher of beer and four glasses.
“Okay, a toast,” Bokuto poured all the glasses messily, spilling all over the table. Once glasses were passed around, all of them clinked them together. “Keiji, say the toast,” Bokuto insisted.
Keiji thought fast. “To our new adventure as first years?” It came out as more of a question than a statement.
“Yeah, and to easy classes too!” Tetsuro added.
“And to tons of ramen,” Kenma added in, expressionless. Serious. It made everyone laugh and they finally drank. The hoppy flavor of beer didn’t settle with Keiji, but he drank anyway. After all, it was free.
Even with the taste on his tongue, Keiji could only smile. The first day of his new life as a university student went surprisingly well. Hell, he’d already made a few new friends. Carnivores, even. Predators. The ones he’d been worried about. All of his worries slowly dwindled away and for once, he was optimistic about the future thanks to Bokuto. Keiji could only hope that the rest of the year would be just as smooth and enjoyable, without too many bumps in the road. After all, if he studied and made it to all his classes, nothing could go wrong… right?